Apparitions
by SaphronIX
Summary: An aged miner retells the tales of his life's encounters and of all the supernatural adventures he somehow ended up on.
1. Prologue

_**Apparitions – Prologue: Vertical Escape**_

The surface was a thing of the past.

After weeks of maintaining the walls of Fort Bringher, the Ghasts had nearly shredded our defenses. Zombies flooded in through the holes in the walls that creepers pried open, skeletons pierced many of our finest men with their arrows, and all that remained was blood… oh, Alf Almighty, there was blood. The cries of my people wounded me deeply. I was less than half a man that night, hardly a fraction. My heart went out to those whose stopped beating. My very foundation was decaying, letting me slip slowly into the sands of apathy. Fort Bringher was almost completely set ablaze by then, and for what? No reason, as far as I was concerned. At the time, the attacks seemed completely random. We weren't prepared in the slightest for an ambush on such a grand scale. For a moment, I was frozen. Stuck in my own thoughts, I fell oblivious to foes abroad. Whether I lived or died in those seconds, I was unaware. All senses were gone as I recalled the strange feelings I and my fellow inhabitants shared in more recent times. Eerie notions beamed across the land, as if the sun itself were telling us a cryptic tale of death and dismay. The days following never felt the same, even if none of us really understood the feeling or got the message. We all knew something bad was going to happen; subconsciously, in the backs of our minds. No one had the nerve to bring it up though.

A part of me truly hoped I died right then, but the remaining majority of me highly doubted that.

Slimes seeped up through the ground from depths unknown. No cave systems were excavated at any depth beneath the stronghold based on my knowledge. Apparently, slimes loosen and break down soil and rock they pass through. Some sort of acidic property in their body, I imagined. Either way, I found myself half-sliding, half-sinking through a slime's tunnel into a dimly lit corridor. It stretched miles in two directions, as far as the keenest eyes could see. The doors to several branch hallways could be seen near-by. I was sure I was in the main corridor due to the difference in size of the side-tunnels. This main hall would eventually have to lead me to something. Something that could potentially solve the puzzle of me not knowing where the hell I'd ended up or what exactly all these well-made passages were used for. I began to slowly pace in a circle, trying to decide on which direction I should go. I decided on what I suspected to be North and, looking back, I made the wrong decision.

A feeling of absolute darkness covered me despite the faint redstone torches lining each wall. An internal fear engulfed me, induced only by my own thoughts. I had to dig. Fast, or else I would be dead. I felt a chill chasing me, and no matter which path I fled down, it only grew stronger. My attempts to run somehow seemed heroic. At least I felt heroic, like I was in a story, running around in an elaborate labyrinth, vanquishing mighty foes, protecting my people from all things harmful. But when reality hit, I realized none of it was true. I was running from this feeling, not towards it to put a stop to it. My people were dead and even though I didn't intend to end up underground, I felt as if I had abandoned my own fortress. Panic soon followed and I resorted to the only thing I knew how to do. I dug.

Digging straight down, despite the golden rule never to do it, was the fastest way out. By my last estimate, I was as much as forty meters below the surface and that was nearly an hour ago. At least it felt like an hour. How was I supposed to know? I was in a dark hole, trudging my way down meter after meter with a half broken pickaxe and a stick that used to be attached to a shovel head. No torches, no watches, no armor, nothing. My resources were limited to what was within my immediate area. Plain and simple, I was screwed. I had no companions, no food, and no time left to worry about what would happen to me down there. The air I breathed got colder and colder, thinner and thinner, more dirty and dusty. I had managed to prevent the dark, chilling feelings from grabbing at my spine for the time being, but what I found myself doing now was even worse.

I found a cave; a large, seemingly empty cave. I dropped about three meters onto the gravel floor and realized immediately something wasn't right. The loose ground beneath me started to shift, sinking in a pool of lava. I'd never seen gravel behave that way on top of lava. It seemed odd that the gravel only melted away in the bubbling mixture of magma after I stepped on it. It was as if the gravel and lava themselves were forced to act that way. I never believed in magic, though. That was alright, because magic wasn't entirely the cause of it. I had other things to worry about now than just magic. As I rounded the corner, the fading light of the lava allowed me a glimpse of the few meters in front of me. If the lava didn't kill me, a heart attack surely could.

A strange apparition stood before me; a pale blue-gray mist in the loose shape of a human. Something put me under the impression that the shape wasn't based entirely off of a human, and a little chime in my ear told me that I wasn't safe.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Apparitions - Ch. 1: Friends In Low Places**_

The mist hovered near my feet, faint and hazey. The presence emitted a vibe that flow about the cavern. Emotions filled the air. Tension and hatred were some of the more apparent feelings. Every second a glimpse of a different face could be seen within the dense fog, non alike, some not of earthly form at all. None of them held contentment in their gaze. An aura of disdain overtook my body after a while.

Several stale moments were spent exchanging blank stares. A chill in my bones gave me a feeling of old age. The expressions on the apparition's face faded into ones of sorrow and sadness to an extent that my eyes wheled up with tears. Faint images of war and death washed over me. I was reminded of the previous events at Fort Bringher, but the images that gave me these thoughts were not of my once cherished home. The place I lived for - even to die for - was out of my reach. If I could get back at all, not more than rubble and ash was likely to be found. With all of my being I wished to return. I sensed a bit of that feeling in this odd celesial form as well.

Many different feelings could be taken from this ghost, in fact. At least I had come to the conclusion it was a ghost. It had done me no harm yet and failed at any attempts of communication if it had tried so far. Perhaps its expressions were a vessel to somehow portray knowledge or evoke a desired reaction from me? Whether they were or not, I'd need a more obvious sign to understand.

My urge to run had passed by now. My initial feelings of danger were false it seemed. Perhaps a warning; a sign to run before something terrible occured in this underground world I had fallen into. The only word I could find to describe what happened next was "dancing". The ghost and I drifted in a tight circle. A spark of joy was reflected in its face, a joy long forgetten in past lives. Its fluid movemont around me reflected excitement. Perhaps I was the first person it had met in awhile? At least the first nice one. Without a doubt the ghost was laughing now. The laugh wasn't ordinary at all though. It was distorted and faded to different tones, that of many different beings I presumed. This laughter sparked a thought. If the ghost had many laughs and voices, could it talk? So far it hadn't tried, but assuming things is never a guarantee. If it can't, there's no harm in trying,I thought.

"Hi-o, mate, you come here often?", I said dryly. No response or even acknowledgement was given. "Ah damn creature, can't even speak. A little gesture or something wouldn't be too much to ask, would it?" It was worth a shot at least. By now I half-expected to wake up despite how real this all felt. It seemed impossible, but stranger things have happened. Actually I wasn't sure if that was true in this case. Weirder and weird things were sure to happen soon, I thought. Sure enough I was correct.

"Sir, I beg of you. Do not leave me alone like so many before you," the celestial being said in a low, drull voice. It was cryptic - sort of demonic even - yet soothing at the same time.

That was not the first time I was frozen where I stood that day. "W-what... in Lloyd's name? You... you..." I was having trouble getting out that one last sentence.

"Please, do not be alarmed. You see, I am alone here, too. It has been that way for some time now... It is quite a long story," the misty figure explained. Its tone constantly changed, much like its face. The only similarity with each voice was that they maintained an authoritative quality, even if just an undertone of it. A little girl's face shone with a small glimmer, a teardrop running down her cheek.

This entity was just afraid and alone, much like me.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Apparitions - Ch. 2: Problems Arise**_

"I am hardly human anymore. My composition is that of dust and my emotions are only existent because I remember them, not because I feel them." We had been talking for some time now. I still hadn't been told a name or nickname to call the figure.

"But how? How has all of this happened to you? Why? Hell, I don't even know where we are. There's so much I haven't a clue about." I began to ramble out of curiosity and frustration.

"Be calm, friend. In time many answers will be given to you. As for how and why I am like this, another time, another time," nodded the ghost. A deep wisdom was felt with every word. Somehow I was content being told to wait, so long as this entity was giving the command. "For now, we move. Even if this were the time to discuss all of your inner quarrels, it is not the place. The Hijinx will come soon."

"Hiji-", and we were off before I could even repeat the word. I was forced to maintain a near-running pace as we traversed dark passages in this underground complex. I had no time to be confused, I simply followed. My feelings of panic, my need to escape from a notion of danger were returning. I wanted to dig but doing so was not on my agenda, it seemed. We eventually entered a slightly more open and accessible corridor, and our pace seemed to slow quite a bit. The ceiling sloped high above us, completely out of sight.

As the walls seemed to tear away, large stone barricades were passed frequently. Many had spikes of iron lining them, often sporting a red hue. I had a slight idea of what it was but I hated to ask more question. Beyond the ghost's faint glow, nothing could be seen. I suspected this place was very large. It was how large that I was curious of.

What seemed like a cliff was just ahead. We approached the ledge slowly but it turn out to only be a steep hill. Even so, one would be quite unfortunate to lose their footing. After taking in the sight of the massive drop off, I realized there was a shocking amount of light. This light was surely not made by a few torches in the distance, that was impossible. My gaze slowly rose to an unexpected sight. It was a city, glowing brightly in a gigantic cavern that must have reached well over four-thousand kilometers.

"Another few hours of walking, if that's what you're wondering. A day or so if things get tangled up," it answered before I could even ask. "Expect anything and listen to my every word as we pass through this valley. We'll meet many challenges. Please, do not panic."

"Easy for you to say, you're only a ghost!" I felt panicked despite the instruction not to. I was reluctant to face these obstacles and even more nervous to actually get to the city and see what exactly we were going there for.

"A ghost I may be, but do not think foolishly. We are not dealing with humans in these realms. This is not your home." His tone was deep and struck a serious chord. "This realm is home to the bastard children of the Cosmic Divide, the very creatures that haunt people in their dreams. No one is safe." His _body_ language grew intense and I felt like death was eminent. And what did he mean by, "the very creatures that haunt people's dreams"?

I just wanted to go home already but that option, I knew, was well beyond me. I began eying the small winding path that was carved into the rapid decline before us. Torches were placed here and there. Off in the distance I could tell there were many paths because the dots of lights were scattered about the vast darkness, as if it were a sky full of stars. This would be the closest thing to a night sky I'd see in a long time.

It was time to begin our descent into the black.


End file.
